Most “make money on social media” advice is written by people who have never been paid by a platform. This one isn’t. Here are the eight methods I use across my channels, what each one really pays, and the order I’d build them in if I were starting again today.
There are two versions of this topic online. One is a screenshot of someone’s dashboard with no context and a course to sell you. The other is the boring, honest version: a handful of income streams, stacked over time, most of them small until they aren’t.
I’ve spent 20 years making content and I’m paid through most of the methods below. This is the boring, honest version \u2014 with the numbers attached so you can model your own reality instead of borrowing someone else’s highlight reel.
Who’s telling you this? I’m Alan Spicer — a YouTube Certified Expert with 20+ years making content, six Silver Play Buttons and 500+ creators coached. I earn through platform ad revenue, Amazon Associates, recurring SaaS affiliates, wellness affiliates and a partner programme I’ve drawn over $10,000 from. Everything here is a method I’m paid by, not one I read about.
On this page
- The quick answer
- The 8 methods compared at a glance
- 1. Platform ad revenue
- 2. Amazon Associates
- 3. Affiliate networks (Awin, CJ, Impact)
- 4. Recurring SaaS affiliates
- 5. Wellness & lifestyle affiliates
- 6. Two-tier partner programmes
- 7. Brand deals & sponsorships
- 8. Your own products & services
- Affiliate earnings estimator (free tool)
- People also ask
- FAQs
⚡ QUICK ANSWER
You make money on social media by stacking several income streams rather than chasing one. The eight that work, roughly in the order most creators should build them:
- Platform ad revenue — the YouTube Partner Programme and its equivalents.
- Amazon Associates — the easiest affiliate programme to start.
- Affiliate networks — one application, hundreds of brands (Awin, CJ, Impact).
- Recurring SaaS affiliates — tools that pay you every month (vidIQ, TubeBuddy, StreamYard, Syllaby, Gyre).
- Wellness & lifestyle affiliates — audience-fit products (Lily & Loaf, HelloFresh).
- Two-tier partner programmes — earn from creators who sign up under you (Gyre).
- Brand deals & sponsorships — paid placements once you have proof.
- Your own products & services — the highest-margin stream you own outright.
You don’t need a huge audience to start. You need buying intent and one link. Everything below is how you turn that into money.
Here’s the thing nobody frames properly: the phrase “make money on social media” hides two very different jobs. The first is getting paid by the platform for views. The second is getting paid by other people for pointing your audience somewhere useful. The second job is where the real money lives, and it starts the day you post — no subscriber threshold required.
I’ll take each method in turn, tell you what it pays in the real world, and point you to the deeper guide for each one. Read this as the map. The sister guides are the terrain.
One rule runs through all of it: only ever recommend things you use. It’s the anti-hype position, it keeps you inside UK advertising rules, and it’s the only version of this that survives past month three. If you want the wider business context around going full-time, my Be Your Own Boss guide covers the runway maths and the mindset side.
Why this is worth doing (and why most people get it wrong)
The creator economy was worth roughly $250 billion in 2025, up from around $210 billion the year before, and it’s still growing more than 20% a year. That’s the headline everyone quotes. Here’s the part they leave out: more than half of creators earn under $15,000 a year, and only about 4% clear $100,000, according to the Creator Earnings Report from Influencer Marketing Hub.
So the money is real and the gap is brutal. What separates the two groups isn’t luck or follower count. The data point that matters most: nearly 70% of earning creators run multiple income streams. The ones stuck under £15k are usually leaning on one — typically ad revenue — and hoping it grows. The ones who break out stack three or four of the methods below and let the recurring ones compound.
That’s the whole strategy in a sentence: stack income streams, weight them toward recurring, and only recommend what you use. Everything else is detail.
The 8 methods compared at a glance
Before the detail, here’s the whole board on one screen. “Recurring” is the column that matters most and the one most beginners ignore.
| Method | Best for | Typical pay | Recurring? | Effort to start |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform ad revenue | Volume view content | Per 1,000 views (RPM) | Ongoing while views last | Medium (thresholds apply) |
| Amazon Associates | Product recommendations | ~1–10% per sale | No (24-hr cookie) | Low |
| Affiliate networks | Access to many brands | Varies by advertiser | Some | Low–Medium |
| Recurring SaaS affiliates | Creator / business niches | ~20–40% monthly | Yes | Low |
| Wellness & lifestyle affiliates | Health / lifestyle audiences | Fixed £ + up to 32.5% | Yes (repeat orders) | Low |
| Two-tier partner programmes | Teaching other creators | Your sales + a % of theirs | Yes | Medium |
| Brand deals & sponsorships | Established niches | Flat fee per deal | No (per campaign) | High (need proof) |
| Your own products & services | Anyone with expertise | You keep the margin | Depends on model | High (highest reward) |
Pay ranges are indicative and change; always check each programme’s current terms. Amazon UK commission rates vary by category and the standard tracking window is 24 hours.
1. Platform ad revenue: the one everyone starts with (and the one that pays slowest)
This is what people picture first — the platform runs ads against your videos and shares the money. On YouTube it’s the YouTube Partner Programme, and there are equivalents on TikTok, Facebook and X.
Here’s the honest part. Ad revenue is real, but it’s slow to switch on and it rewards volume. You need to clear the eligibility threshold first (YouTube currently sits at 1,000 subscribers plus a watch-time or Shorts-views requirement), and once you’re in, your income is governed by RPM — how much you earn per 1,000 views. That RPM swings wildly by niche. A finance channel can earn many times what a gaming channel earns for identical view counts, because advertisers pay more to reach a finance audience.
The truth most won’t tell you: ad revenue is the least reliable stream you’ll build and the one you control least. Treat it as a bonus on top of the affiliate and product income below, not the foundation. Creators who live and die by RPM are one algorithm change from a very bad month.
Build it, absolutely — it’s money for content you were making anyway. Just don’t let it be the plan. Full guide: how the YouTube Partner Programme really pays in the UK.
2. Amazon Associates: the easiest first affiliate income
If ad revenue is the slowest to start, Amazon Associates is the fastest. There’s no follower threshold. You recommend a product, link to it with your affiliate tag, and earn a commission when someone buys — and thanks to Amazon’s model, you earn on anything they buy in that session, not just the item you linked.
That’s the upside. The downsides are equally real: UK commission rates are low (roughly 1–10% depending on category) and the tracking cookie lasts just 24 hours. So Amazon rewards intent and volume — people who click ready to buy, in numbers.
Two practical rules I follow on every post. First, link to a search results page for the product, not a single listing — listings go out of stock and break, search links don’t. Second, always disclose. Here’s the format I use for a camera light, for example: softbox lighting kit on Amazon UK.
Amazon is the training-wheels affiliate. It teaches you how linking, disclosure and tracking work with almost no barrier. Start here, but don’t stop here — the pennies-per-sale ceiling is exactly why the recurring methods below exist. If you want to see this done properly across a real buying niche, my YouTube starter kit guide is built on this exact structure. Full guide: Amazon Associates for creators (UK).
3. Affiliate networks: one login, hundreds of brands
Once you outgrow Amazon, you hit a wall: every brand you want to promote seems to run its own separate programme, each with its own login, payment threshold and approval process. Affiliate networks solve that. They’re marketplaces that sit between you and thousands of advertisers — you apply once to the network, then request access to individual brands from a single dashboard.
The three worth knowing are Awin, CJ (Commission Junction) and Impact. Awin is especially strong for UK and European brands, and a lot of retailers you already shop with run their programmes through it. The advantage isn’t just convenience — it’s discovery. You’ll find brands paying far better than Amazon that you’d never have known ran an affiliate programme at all.
Analytical note: networks take a cut and some charge advertisers to join, which filters out the lowest-quality merchants. That’s a feature, not a cost to you — it means the brands inside tend to have real budgets and proper tracking. The trade-off is that some networks have a small joining fee or minimum payout, so read the terms before you commit your promotion to one.
Think of networks as the layer that turns “I recommend things sometimes” into “I have a portfolio of brands I can match to any piece of content.” Full guide: the best affiliate networks for creators, compared.
4. Recurring SaaS affiliates: where the money quietly compounds
This is the method I’d tattoo on a beginner’s arm if I could. Software tools — the ones creators and small businesses pay for monthly — run affiliate programmes that pay you a percentage every single month the customer stays subscribed. Not once. Every month.
Run the maths and it’s obvious why this beats one-off commissions. Refer someone to a tool that pays 30% recurring on a £20/month plan and you earn £6 a month from that one referral. Do that ten times and stay at it, and you’ve built £60/month that keeps paying while you add the next ten. The income compounds instead of resetting to zero every sale.
The tools I use and recommend, all of which pay recurring commissions:
- vidIQ — YouTube keyword and analytics tool. vidiq.com/alanspicer
- TubeBuddy — channel management and optimisation. alanspicer.com/tubebuddy
- StreamYard — live streaming studio. streamyard.com
- Syllaby — content ideation and scripting. alanspicer.com/syllaby
- Gyre — 24/7 pre-recorded live streaming. join Gyre through my partner link
Gyre is worth singling out. It’s a cloud tool that streams your pre-recorded videos as 24/7 live content, and its enterprise client list runs to names like NBCUniversal and BBC Studios. I use it daily across multiple channels — and it also has the strongest partner programme of the five, which is why it appears again in method six. If you want the tool itself broken down first, I’ve written a full Gyre pricing breakdown.
Why does this method work so well for creators specifically? Because you’re already demonstrating these tools in your content. A viewer watching you edit or research is watching a live product demo. The recommendation is native. Full guide: recurring affiliate programmes for YouTubers.
Not sure which stream fits your channel?
I’ve coached 500+ creators through exactly this decision. Book a free discovery call and we’ll map the two or three income streams that suit your niche, your audience size and the time you’ve got.
5. Wellness & lifestyle affiliates: matching products to an audience that buys
Recurring commissions aren’t limited to software. Some physical-product brands have built the same monthly logic into their affiliate programmes — and if your audience overlaps with health, fitness or lifestyle, these convert far better than random Amazon links because the fit is tight.
The one I use is Lily & Loaf, a UK wellness brand whose Creator Circle programme pays a fixed £15 commission per Daily Essentials sale plus repeat orders for recurring monthly income, and up to 32.5% commission across the wider range. It also gives you a personal discount code for your followers and a dashboard to track clicks and sales. Their own worked example: 10 buyers in month one is £150; 30+ recurring buyers by month six is £450+ — from the Daily Essentials alone. You can join the Lily & Loaf Creator Circle here.
Where this fits best: Lily & Loaf’s Daily Essentials were built for people eating less — GLP-1 (jab) users, post-bariatric, or anyone on a lighter diet. If your content touches weight loss or nutrition, the match is natural. I cover the medication side of that world in depth over on healthyweightlossglp1.com.
The other lifestyle programme I run is HelloFresh — meal-kit boxes with a well-known referral offer (code ALAN50 for 50% off a first box). It suits food, family and budgeting content. The lesson across both: the closer the product sits to what your audience already wants, the less “selling” you do — the recommendation does the work. Full guide: wellness & lifestyle affiliate programmes (UK).
6. Two-tier partner programmes: earn from the creators you help
Here’s a method most creators have never heard of. A two-tier affiliate programme pays you on your own referrals and a smaller percentage on the sales made by people who signed up as affiliates through your link. You’re not just selling to viewers — you’re building a small team of other creators and earning a slice as they grow.
Gyre is the clearest example I’m part of. Its partner terms are explicitly two-tier: anyone who joins under you and then goes on to refer their own customers becomes your second-tier partner, and you earn from their activity as well as your own. Commission is recurring and scales with your partner status. I’m a VIP Gyre partner and I’ve drawn over $10,000 from the programme — a chunk of that from the second tier rather than direct sales.
The honest caveat: “earn from people below you” pattern-matches to schemes you should avoid. The difference that matters is simple — a legitimate two-tier affiliate pays you for real product sales to real customers, with no requirement to buy in, stock anything or recruit to get paid. Gyre’s underlying product is software people use every day. If a “programme” only makes sense when you recruit, walk away. If the underlying product would sell without the affiliate scheme, it’s the real thing.
The reason this method rewards teachers specifically: your best second-tier partners are people you’ve helped learn. That’s why it pairs so well with a channel about creating content — you’re already teaching. You can become a Gyre partner through my link here. Full guide: two-tier affiliate programmes explained.
7. Brand deals & sponsorships: getting paid up front
Once you have an established niche and a track record, brands will pay you a flat fee to feature them — a dedicated video, an integration, a set of posts. Unlike affiliate income, you’re paid regardless of how many sales result, which is why it feels like the “arrived” moment for a lot of creators.
It’s also the one with the highest barrier. Brands want proof: consistent output, an engaged audience and a niche that matches their customer. You rarely land good sponsorships early, and the low-value ones (free product for a lot of work) often aren’t worth it. My advice is to build the affiliate streams first — they prove you can drive sales, which is exactly the evidence that lands better-paid brand deals later.
Price on value, not follower count. A 5,000-subscriber channel with buyers is worth more to the right brand than a 500,000-subscriber channel of passive viewers. Full guide: how to get brand deals on YouTube.
8. Your own products & services: the stream you actually own
Every method above rents you income from someone else’s business. This one is yours. When you sell your own product or service — a course, a template, a coaching call, a membership — you keep the whole margin and you own the customer relationship. No platform can switch it off and no programme can change your commission rate overnight.
It’s the highest-reward stream and the one that takes the most to build, which is why it comes last. But it’s also the most defensible. My own coaching sits here: I turn 20 years of content experience into discovery calls and coaching, and it’s the income no algorithm can take from me.
You don’t need to start here. But you should always be building toward it. Everything else in this list can fund the audience and the credibility that make your own offer land. If you want reading to sharpen the business thinking behind it, my best books for freelancers and the self-employed is the place I’d point you. Full guide: selling your own products & services as a creator.
The numbers, side by side
Watch: the walkthrough
I’ve made a full video breaking these eight methods down with live examples. Watch it here:
[ YouTube video embed goes here — paste your iframe in the Code editor ]
Free tool: affiliate earnings estimator
Before you believe anyone’s income screenshot — including mine — model your own. Enter your numbers and this estimates what an affiliate stream could pay you monthly and annually. It’s deliberately conservative: change the inputs to match reality, not hope.
Use 1 for one-off (Amazon). Use 6–12 for recurring SaaS.
Notice what the tool makes obvious: bumping the "months retained" field from 1 to 12 changes the annual figure more than doubling your traffic does. That's the entire argument for recurring commissions in one slider.
People also ask
Can you make money on social media without showing your face?
Yes. Faceless content works fine for affiliate income — tutorials, screen recordings, voice-over explainers and curated content all convert. Tools like Gyre even let you run 24/7 faceless streams from pre-recorded video. What you can't skip is trust and usefulness; the face is optional, the value isn't.
Which platform pays creators the most?
For ad revenue, YouTube leads for most niches because of long-form watch time and high advertiser demand. But "which pays most" is the wrong question — affiliate and product income travels across every platform, so the better move is to build an audience somewhere and monetise it with the methods on this page rather than chasing whichever app is paying best this quarter.
How long before social media makes money?
Affiliate income can start the week you're approved. Ad revenue usually takes months to clear eligibility thresholds. Meaningful, stable income — the kind you could partly live on — is more often a 12-to-24-month build for people who post consistently. Anyone promising faster is selling you the promise, not the method.
Frequently asked questions
How many followers do you need to make money on social media?
Fewer than most people assume. Affiliate income depends on trust and buying intent, not raw follower count — a channel with 2,000 engaged viewers in a buying niche can out-earn one with 200,000 casual viewers. Platform ad revenue does have thresholds (YouTube currently requires 1,000 subscribers plus watch-time or Shorts views), but affiliate and product income has no minimum. You can place your first affiliate link today.
What is the easiest way to start making money on social media?
Affiliate marketing, and usually Amazon Associates first. There is no application barrier tied to audience size, you already recommend products in your content, and you can start the same day you are approved. The catch is Amazon's low commission rates and short cookie window, so treat it as a starting point rather than your main income.
How much money can you realistically make from affiliate marketing?
It scales with traffic, buying intent and commission structure rather than luck. A small niche channel might earn tens of pounds a month at first. The earners who reach four figures a month tend to promote recurring SaaS tools or higher-value programmes where one referral pays for months, not products that pay once at 3%. Use the estimator on this page to model your own numbers before you believe anyone's screenshot.
Is affiliate marketing free to start?
Yes. Every affiliate programme covered here — Amazon Associates, the recurring SaaS tools, Lily & Loaf's Creator Circle and Gyre's partner programme — is free to join. You are paid a commission on sales you refer. The only real cost is the time you spend making content people trust.
What is a recurring affiliate commission and why does it matter?
A recurring commission pays you every month the customer you referred keeps their subscription, instead of once at the point of sale. It matters because it compounds. Refer ten people to a tool paying 20% recurring and, if they stay subscribed, you keep earning from all ten while you add the next ten. That is how creators build affiliate income that grows month on month rather than resetting to zero.
What is a two-tier affiliate programme?
A two-tier programme pays you on your own referrals and a smaller percentage on the sales made by people who signed up as affiliates through your link. Gyre's partner programme works this way: anyone who joins under you and then refers customers becomes your second-tier partner, and you earn from their activity too. It rewards teaching other creators to earn, not just selling to viewers.
Do I have to tell my audience I use affiliate links?
Yes, and it protects you. UK advertising rules require clear disclosure of any commercial relationship, and viewers respect honesty. A one-line note that a link is an affiliate link, paired with only recommending things you use, keeps you compliant and keeps your audience's trust, which is the thing that makes the income possible in the first place.
Five mistakes that keep creators broke
After 20 years and 500+ coached creators, the same handful of errors come up again and again. Avoid these and you're ahead of most people trying this.
- Betting everything on ad revenue. It's the slowest to start, the least reliable, and the one you control least. Build it, but never let it be the whole plan.
- Ignoring recurring commissions. A one-off 5% Amazon sale and a 30% recurring SaaS commission are not remotely the same business. One resets to zero every month; the other compounds. Most beginners chase the wrong one.
- Promoting things they don't use. Your audience can smell it, it breaks UK disclosure rules if you're not careful, and it torches the trust that makes every other method work.
- Waiting for a "big enough" audience. You can place an affiliate link at 50 followers. Buying intent beats follower count every time. The waiting is just fear wearing a sensible coat.
- Renting forever, never owning. Affiliate and ad income are somebody else's business you're borrowing. If you never build your own product or service, you're always one policy change from zero. Method eight isn't optional; it's the destination.
Final thoughts: stack, don't chase
The creators who make real money on social media aren't the ones who found one magic method. They're the ones who stacked four or five, let the recurring streams compound, and kept only recommending things they'd stake their name on.
If I were starting today, my order would be: turn on Amazon to learn the mechanics, add two or three recurring SaaS tools I use myself, layer in a niche affiliate that fits my audience, then build toward my own offer while the rest funds the audience. Ad revenue and brand deals arrive on their own once the work is consistent.
Pick one method this week. Not all eight. One. Then come back for the next.
Keep reading
- Be Your Own Boss — the full guide to going self-employed, with a runway calculator.
- Recurring affiliate programmes for YouTubers — the method that compounds.
- Gyre pricing breakdown — the tool behind method four and six.
- YouTube starter kit under £1,000 — affiliate structure done right.
- Best books for freelancers & the self-employed — the thinking behind method eight.
Want a plan, not a pick-and-mix?
In a free 30-minute discovery call I'll help you choose the two or three income streams that fit your channel right now — and the order to build them. No pitch, just direction from someone who's been paid by every method on this page.
Sources & disclosure: YouTube Partner Programme eligibility per YouTube Help. Lily & Loaf Creator Circle commission terms (£15 per Daily Essentials sale, up to 32.5% across the range) per the Lily & Loaf partner page. Gyre two-tier partner structure per Gyre's published affiliate terms. Some links on this page are affiliate links: if you sign up or buy through them I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools and products I use myself. Commission rates and cookie windows are set by each programme and change — always check current terms before relying on any figure here.
Discover more from Alan Spicer - YouTube Certified Expert
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